


Tempest

by missjmelville



Category: The Following
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 01:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2489165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missjmelville/pseuds/missjmelville
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As soon as their eyes lock for the first time, he knows. This kid with his enthusiasm and eyes lighting up, he's gonna go places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tempest

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few months ago when a friend got me back into The Following a bit obsessively. I've been sitting on it forever but finally decided to post it. I hope you enjoy it.

He has vodka in his veins, a barely there buzz that keeps his hands steady, that drowns out the tickle of fear making its way up his spine. At the same time he can feel the low thrum of adrenaline, of excitement, building. Joe Carroll is his kryptonite, his arch nemesis, his life's challenge, just _his_. He caught Joe before and he can do it again, but he's not quite sure he wants to, chasing Joe, even when he didn't know it was Joe he was after, it was exhilarating. 

None of the agents standing around giving him pitying, or worse suspicious, looks understand the gravity of the situation, not really. A dangerous serial killer is loose, yes, but Joe is so much more than _just_ a serial killer. The agents scurry around like headless chickens trying to figure out where Joe will go, what he'll do. Then he sees _him_.

As soon as their eyes lock for the first time, he knows. This kid with his enthusiasm and eyes lighting up, he's gonna go places. He understands. More so than any of the other FBI agents. Maybe even as much as Ryan himself. Cocky but not arrogant, intelligent, he clearly knows how to read the mood of the assembled agents, how to twist their perception of Ryan as help instead of hindrance. He saw Ryan and he challenged him, just like that. Challenged Ryan to call him out on his description of Joe and his motives, challenged Ryan to call him wrong. He was willing to make himself look less to make Ryan look more.

As soon as the agent called him out he could feel the fire in his veins return, the thrill of a challenge, the thrill of being able to speak about Joe and not have anyone call him obsessed. Because he's helping. The kid smiles, it's a nice smile and Ryan simultaneously wants to wipe it off his pretty little face with some of his patented biting sarcasm and yet he never wants to stop seeing it. And then his smile bubbles up into gushing enthusiasm about Ryan himself and he can't take it, he's not used to praise so he walks away.

Rude maybe, but the kid, Mike Weston, he doesn't need to get any closer to Ryan than he already is. It's dangerous for people to get too close. Besides, once Joe is back behind bars, Ryan will go back to his boring life in his boring flat and it's likely he'll never see agent Weston ever again. It's probably better for everyone that way, he thinks and tries to ignore the voice that whispers at the back of his mind that he enjoys chasing Joe, that he could happily do it for the rest of his life without a care for the body count that would create.

If Weston is determined to follow him, he'll be the first.


End file.
